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Babies in taxis

you have to have your baby in a car seat to leave the hospital.why would you not buy a car seat, even for taxis your baby is way safer in a car seat than on your lap, and the law is the same for any car including taxis if you can use a car seat use it, if the child is old enough to sit on a booster seat the black cabs have one fitted, its the pull down bit in the middle of the seats. i think you should get a cheap car seat for car journeys if you go on long journeys like longer than the shops.

you can borrow one from hospital or a friend just to bring the baby home. talk to the hospital about it though.good luck and congrats

hias far as i know the hospital wont let you leave without a car seat, they watch you putting the baby in it!

maybe just borrow one for the journey home, and then just use your sling. i dont drive and am hardly ina car but i do have a car seat for the odd occasion im in my friends car and we sit him in it as a seat in the house becasue he doesnt like his bouncy chair.

When I had Elliott there was a couple there that didn't have a car sea an the midwives wouldn't discharge her until her hubby had been to a shop (it was 8pm) and got one...it's part if their checklist to make sure they see it

Post a request on Freecycle. I wanted a seat for us to take on holiday so there was no risk of mine getting wrecked by baggage handlers and I got one a couple of days after posting.You may have to find a way to pick it up from someone, but as you only post to your local groups you would hopefully find someone not too far away.I'm loving Freecycle since going onto mat pay, it's my new hobby and I've got rid of a few bits as well as receiving everything I've requested so far.xxx

I have taken my daughter in a black cab and just took her in the pram. Could you do this? The midwife never checked we were taking our daughter home in the car seat or took us to the car. For all they know we could be getting the bus home or walking it.

Getting into a car is the most dangerous everyday activity we undertake and although it feels like its just one short journey if you were involved in an accident (and most occur 3 miles from the home) your baby would be at serious risk.

I also left hospital carrying my baby in a sling, none of the mw's mentioned having to have a car seat at all. I also got a taxi and had her in a sling on me. If mw's had asked me I would have told them that I was walking home. If you do go ahead and use the sling make sure that you put the seatbelt between you and the baby and not around you both as if the taxi had to brake suddenly then your weight would be on lo against the seatbelt iyswim.

Good luck, where abouts in London are you? I was at Chelsea and Westminster.

Also Addison Lee don't do baby seats, I asked for one when they took us home and they said they only had them for older children and babies were ok to be held on laps. (though don't know if thats all the time or just happened they didn't have one when I needed one)

I have had 2 children in the last 3 and a half years and the midwife has never taken us to the car! And I've never seen anyone else being taken to a car with a midwife either. (i've been in and out of maternity alot!!!)xx

Me too, and same again the midwife's have never checked how i was getting home or if i had a car seat with either babys. I think its quite a dated thing tbh but maybe there just slack at my hospital? xx

Isn't this a strange thread? Not for content but started in 2006 and then 2 years later someone found it and replied in 2008 and now it's happened again in 2010. Imagine how many pages back it must have been!! we live in

Anyhoo it is an important topic. We lived in London when Toby was born (at St Thomas's) and didn't have a car. Even though we had no intention of buying a car we still bought a carseat for the occasional minicab ride or if we hired a car for holidays. So we used that in the taxi home (not a black cab) from hospital.

After that I used taxis often. If I was out and about and decided to get a cab home I just rolled the pram into a black cab. If I was at home and needed a cab to an appointment or something I would order a minicab and use the car seat.

I personally would never just hold my baby in a car, even in a sling. I'm sure it's probably safe but I would never forgive myself if something happened so I always use a carseat or pram in taxis.

I realise the original posters baby is probably at least 3 years old now but for any current mums to be:

You do not require to use a car seat in a taxi as they are exempt. However please DO NOT leave baby in pram in back of a hackney taxi when travelling, this is much more dangerous than holding baby on your lap, do not do it.

I work in a taxi company and so many people phone asking for a hackney car so they can keep baby in pram and we always explain that they must take baby out. If you were involved in a serious accident the baby would go flying out the pram.

Most reputable companies have booster seats and if you request a baby seat in advance it can be provided but obviously the cannot all carry baby seats as they are too bulky to keep in taxi.

However no matter how small a journey i would always put my baby in a car seat.

Also you should not use one from someone you do not know because you must ask if its ever been in an accident, if it has it shouldn't be used (just like a bike helmet, it weakens them).